Winter claw rising
by Yed Yeddicus
Summary: Tensions in the northern waste of Freljord rise as the Ursine begin to rally the Winter's claw to the attack. The Avarosian people prepare for the inevitable war that will plague their nation for months to come. Which side shall prevail in this conflict? and will the barren nation ever unify under one banner? Short to medium story, please do R&R :)


Barely any light from the moon passed through the thick clouds in the brittle night sky. Sejuani smirked out at the darkness ahead of her, her mount Bristle trudged effortlessly through the thick snow, the boar's snout constantly snuffling as it walked.

Beside Sejuani walked the renowned warrior Olaf. The berserker remained in stoic silence as he followed her through the snow and the darkness, his two axes hanging lightly in his fists. And further yet, following both of them were dozens of barbarians, all pledged to the Winter's claw tribe. They all carried a mixture of weapons spanning from crude axes to masterfully crafted swords and bows.

"Hold." Sejuani raised her hand up as she spoke and completely in sync with its master, Bristle halted. The men and women behind her stopped in their tracks and Olaf turned to face her.

"This is the spot?" Olaf's deep and raspy voiced echoed around them.

"Aye." Sejuani glared out into the darkness. There were no distinct features about this spot other than a large rock sticking out of the ground. On further inspection, Sejuani noticed dozens of strange symbols carved into it.

"I hate magic." Olaf grumbled, "Doesn't make for a fair fight."

Sejuani nodded in agreement.

"He will be here soon."

* * *

"Caitlyn can you hear me?" Vi's voice came in crackly and garbled across the radio. Caitlyn lifted her gloved hand to her ear and activated the communication device implemented there.

"I can hear you, Vi. But I must insist we maintain radio silence from here on, I am almost upon them."

"Just checking in on ya that's all, cupcake." Vi laughed, "Good luck out there, boss."

Caitlyn rolled her eyes and smiled before grimacing once again as another gale of wind lashed against her porcelain like face.

She pulled at her green coat in an attempt to gain more warmth from it to little avail and repositioned the hat upon her head. _When she had been sent on this arctic operation she should have packed more layers_, she thought to herself.

Caitlyn lifted her rifle up and began to scurry as quickly as she could. She had been sent on arctic ops on the fringes of the Freljord nation before and had adapted to moving through snow quite easily, though she had never been this far into the frozen wastes before.

Soon enough she came to a ledge looking over a small valley that must have once been a lake of sort and to her surprise she saw that her objective was already here. Sejuani. The tribe leader was accompanied by dozens of barbarian warriors with an array of weaponry, she also recognised the feared warrior, Olaf next to her.

Caitlyn quickly lay down in the snow, cringing as she felt the front of her coat become damp.

She was just contemplating whether or not to contact Vi to say she had made contact, when she saw him. Her jaw dropped at the immense size he was and the power that emanated from him.

* * *

"Volibear." Sejuani called out.

From the darkness and walking on hind legs, the enormous Ursine known as Volibear had approached them. Even upon her mount Sejuani still had to look up to address the Ursine.

"Why have you summoned us here?" Sejuani asked.

Volibear glared back down at the tribe leader.

"The time has come."

"Time for what?" Sejuani raised an eyebrow.

"We make our move on Avarosi." Volibear balled his paw into a fist as he spoke, "The time is right."

"I decide when the time is right, Shaaman." Sejuani glared back, "Have you forgotten who rules over the Winter's claw?"

"I remember all too well." Volibear replied, "I also remember that you have spoken of war for little over half a decade now, and still we yield nothing from your well practiced speeches."

"Watch yourself, Ursine." Sejuani spat. Bristle began to become restless and shook its head violently.

"We make a move on Avarosa, with or without your leadership."

"You shall do no such thing!" Sejuani yelled, "My people are loyal to me and only me, the Ursine-"

"The Ursine…" As Volibear spoke, Sejuani's mouth opened in horror as pairs and pairs of bright eyes began popping up in the darkness behind Volibear, "The Ursine do not pity cowards."

Sejuani raised her mace and her warriors behind her did the same with their weapons.

"What is this…" She asked softly.

Dozens and dozens of Ursine appeared behind Volibear. All of them crawled on all fours until they reached their leader, then they rose up onto their hind legs and regarded the barbarians in front of them with stoic glares.

"As I said." Volibear continued, "We make our move on Avarosa, how long must we wait? Until the winter witch rises once more? You shall order the Winter's claw to follow suit."

Sejuani couldn't believe the insolence coming from who she had thought to be a close ally. She couldn't give in to his demands otherwise her people would think her weak.

"A counter offer to your proposal-" Sejuani started but was interrupted.

"It was not a proposal, Sejuani." Volibear looked out at the dozen or so warriors who accompanied the tribe leader, "You will adhere by my creed or you shall be tossed away."

Sejuani's temper finally broke.

"Kill them! Kill them all!" She bellowed before kicking Bristle into action. The boar raced forward towards Volibear and Sejuani began to swing her mace round and round above her head.

The warriors behind her raised their weapons but none of them charged towards the Ursine ranks.

Volibear immediately dropped onto all fours and sprinted at the incoming threat. He let out a mighty roar and from the dark clouds above came a lightning bolt. The bolt struck the mighty Ursine and Volibear pulsed with electronic energy.

Bristle aimed its tusks towards the incoming Volibear, but upon clashing the Ursine grabbed a tusk in each claw and sent a lightning like pulse through the beast. Sejuani screamed out in pain and barely kept the grip on her weapon. Bristle roared and went to pull away from Volibear, the momentum of its tug against the Ursine's iron grip caused its tusks to break in half. The boar raised its head and cried out to the night sky and as it did so, Volibear grabbed the beast by the neck and slowly raised onto hind legs lifting the boar with him by the throat. Sejuani fell backwards off of her mount and landed face first into the snow. She raised her head and saw her warriors looking on in fear, all except Olaf who stood with his arms crossed.

"What do you think you're doing?!" She screeched at them, "Cowards! Traitors! Attack!"

"Sejuani." Volibear's voice boomed from behind her. She turned and saw her faithful Bristle aloft from the ground struggling in Volibear's grip. "I will give you one more chance to reconsider your answer."

Sejuani looked up at Bristle's pained eyes and then to the crowds of Ursine behind Volibear. There was no honour in pointless defeat, she hung her head and begrudgingly muttered;

"I yield."

Volibear smiled and dropped the boar, the creature cried out as it hit the floor. The Ursine behind Volibear all rose to their hind legs and walked up to join their leader.

"Rally your people, Sejuani. We strike at dawn."

Sejuani glared up at the Ursine as they all turned and began to trudge back into the darkness. Her head then snapped back to her own warriors and stood up.

"What the hell was that!?" She walked straight up to Olaf and looked him in the eye, "You didn't do a thing!"

"I has been looking for glorious battle to die in." The berserker replied casually, "Bear is giving us that opportunity."

Sejuani glared back at Olaf and shook her head in disbelief.

"Back to our people, none of you shall breath a word of this" Sejuani leapt up onto Bristle's back and stroked the scruff of its neck, "Or you shall pay dearly."

The collected warriors nodded and followed Sejuani as Bristle carried her back the way they came.

* * *

Caitlyn lowered her rifle and narrowed her eyes. She watched the two groups part and lay in her position for another five minutes until she was sure they were gone. She then clicked her ear piece and spoke loud enough to make herself heard over the harsh winds.

"Vi, are you there?"

"I'm here, boss." Vi's voice crackled back, "You find what you were lookin' for?"

"Yes and more." Caitlyn grimaced, "It is as we suspected, the Winter's Claw will be making their move soon. The Ursine leader known as Volibear seems to be enacting a hostile takeover of the clan, they will strike at the heart of Avarosa…and then…"

"Then there's no limit to what a unified Frejlord could do." Vi finished her sentence for her.

"Quite." Caitlyn raised herself on one knee.

"Well you've gotta get out of there, Cait."

"I'm afraid that is not an option."

"What!? You crazy, cupcake?"

"Quite the opposite, Vi. I must head to Avarosa, Queen Ashe must be warned of this danger."

"You want me to do anything?"

"Yes, see if you can rally Piltover's forces to aid the Avarosians, speak with Heimerdinger."

"You got it, Cait."

Caitlyn severed the communication link and stood up straight. The cold winds buffeted her and she began to retrace her steps, it would take her the rest of the night to reach Avarosa and even then she wasn't sure she would make it in time.


End file.
